The magazine is published by the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but it covers Al Qaeda operations worldwide. In particular, Inspire 17 features the emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abu Musab Abdel al-Wadoud.

However, this latest issue of Inspire is noteworthy in that the most prominent personality in the magazine is Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden. Hamza bin Laden is emerging as a global leader of Al Qaeda and has specifically vowed to take revenge on the U.S. for killing his father.

Here is a brief summary of the highlights of Inspire 17:

Al Qaeda claims that they will be concentrating on targeting Western nations’ transportation infrastructure, seeking to disrupt the movement of people and cargo.

While Al Qaeda says that they will be targeting all aspects of transportation, air, sea and land, as well as local and international, Inspire 17 focuses on rail transport.

As implied by the name “inspire” Al Qaeda seeks to inspire individual Jihadis to take action. They suggest attacking transport vehicles such as trains and aircraft, lines of transport, such as railways, and stations, terminals and transit points, such as train stations, subway terminals and airports.

But America is not the only target mentioned in the magazine. It sets a priority order for targets in the following order: “everyone who transgresses against our religion,” Jewish interests, US, NATO, Russia.

Al Qaeda specifically instructs its followers to target civilians, as opposed to military targets: “In targeting civilians, there is much advantage and benefit for attaining goals of Jihad that cannot be attained when targeting the military.”

The emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abu Musab Abdel al-Wadoud is quoted as singling out France for attack: “France! Do you know time for settling debts has approached? Do not think you will escape punishment! Start preparing to pay what you owe to Muslims, in cash and in kind.”

France has conducted a robust military campaign against AQIM for several years now.

The impact on Western and American lifestyles from increased security measures is not lost on Al Qaeda: “O Mujahideen, it is time we instill fear and make them impose strict security measures to trains as they did with air.”

Concentrating on rail, the magazine describes a austere technique for attacking trains by derailing them from railroad tracks by positioning an item on them that will alter the course of the train’s wheels.

Unlike previous terror attacks on rail infrastructure, such a technique would not require explosives.

The magazine points out the merit of derailing high speed trains and lists Acela in the US, Class 395 Javelin in the UK and TGV in France as high speed trains to attack.

The magazine also suggests prioritizing derailing trains with HAZMAT cargo in cities and towns in the USA.

America is at war and we continue to be prevented from identifying and understanding our enemies as a result of influence operations targeting our bureaucratized counterterrorism apparatus.

The latest evidence of this long-standing and, unfortunately, very effective influence campaign comes from the revelation that the “Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee” of the Homeland Security Advisory Council to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a recommendation that urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as “jihad” and “shariah” in communications about the threats that we face….

But the effort to suppress even mere mention of the word “shariah” is actually much more damaging than the suppression of the word “jihad.” That’s because shariah is THE enemy threat doctrine.

To understand our enemies, their motivations, their intentions and their strategy, one must study shariah. Shariah is everything to the jihadists. It is the code that they follow and its full implementation is their goal.

Forbidding the use of the term shariah, much less suppressing study of shariah in the present conflict is the equivalent of forbidding intelligence agencies from studying Mein Kampf in World War II or the works and words of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao during the Cold War.

Anyone who would recommend that we avoid studying and talking about shariah simply must have a nefarious purpose.

By way of review, shariah is Islamic law. The terms shariah and Islamic law are completely interchangeable; they refer to exactly the same thing. Shariah is an immutable theo-political-legal-military code derived from the Islamic doctrinal trilogy, made up of the Quran, the Sirah (the biography of the prophet Mohammed) and the Hadith (traditions, sayings and stories compiled about the life of Mohammed).

Every single Jihadist terrorist group in the world–without exception–has as its stated goal the imposition of shariah: the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Lashkar e Taiba, Abu Sayyef, Jemaah Islamiyah, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al Shabaab–all of them.

So, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be carefully avoiding the use of the term shariah, our enemies have been using it quite commonly, frequently and prominently, as if to illustrate the absurdity of the DHS recommendation.

What follows is a compilation of quotes from jihadi leaders and Al Qaeda and Islamic State documents that reveal the central importance of shariah to their movement. This is why Americans must familiarize themselves with shariah.

SHARIAH ACCORDING TO THE JIHADISTS THEMSELVES

• The sharia has forbidden us from taking infidels as confidants, inducting them into our secrets.
• The sharia forbids us from appointing infidels to important posts.
• The sharia forbids us from adopting or praising the beliefs and views of the infidels.
• The sharia forbids us from assisting infidels against Muslims; even the one who is coerced has o excuse to fight under the banner of infidels.
• The sharia commands us to battle infidels—both original infidels and apostates, as well as hypocrites. As for waging jihad against the infidels who have usurped the lands of Islam, this is a duty considered second only to faith, by ulemaic consensus.
• The sharia does not accept the excuses made by hypocrites—that they befriend the infidels because they fear the vicissitudes of time.
• We are duty-bound by the sharia to help Muslims overcome the infidels.

Democracy is based on the principle of the power of creatures over other creatures, and rejects the principle of God’s absolute power over all creatures; it is also based on the idea the men’s desires, whatever they may be, replace God absolutely, and on the refusal to obey God’s law. In Islam, when there is a disagreement or a difference of opinion, one refers to God, his Prophet, and the commands of sharia.

Ayman al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda leader

Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah

From the point of view of ideology and sharia, we are required to establish God’s rule over any part of this earth, regardless of particularities and details. This can only happen, however, if the nation adopts this ideology and safeguards it.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Leader of Hezbollah

The laws of the shari’a embrace a diverse body of laws and regulations, which amounts to a complete social system. In this system of laws, all the needs of man have been met: his dealings with his neighbors, fellow citizens, and clan, as well as children and relatives; the concerns of private and material life; regulations concerning war and peace and intercourse with other nations; penal and commercial law; and regulations pertaining to trade and agriculture.

Reason also dictates that we establish a government in order to be able to ward off aggression and to defend the honor of the Muslims in case of attack. The shari’a, for its part, instructs us to be constantly ready to defend ourselves against those who wish to attack us.

It will be the duty of the Muslims to engage in an armed jihad against the ruling group in order to make the policies ruling society and the norms of government conform to the principles and ordinances of Islam.

Regarding which shared understandings, exactly, is it possible that we agree with the immoral West?… What commonalities, if our foundations contradict, rendering useless the shared extremities—if they even exist? For practically everything valued by the immoral West is condemned under sharia law. As for this atmosphere of shared understandings, what evidence is there for Muslims to strive for this? What did the Prophet, the Companions after him, and the righteous forebears do? Did they wage jihad against infidels, attacking them all over earth, in order to place them under the suzerainty of Islam in great humility and submission? Or did they send messages to discover “shared understandings” between themselves and the infidels in order that they may reach an understanding whereby universal peace, security, and natural relations would spread—in such a satanic manner as this? The sharia provides a true and just path, securing Muslims, and providing peace to the world.

… Offensive Jihadis (are) an established and basic tenet of this religion. It is a religious duty rejected only by the most deluded. So how can they call off this religious obligation [Offensive Jihad], while imploring the West to understandings and talks “under the umbrella of justice, morality, and rights”? The essence of all this comes from right inside the halls of the United Nations, instead of the Divine foundations that are built upon hating the infidels, repudiating them with tongue and teeth till they embrace Islam or pay the jizya [tribute] with willing submission and humility… Muslims, and especially the learned among them, should spread sharia law to the world—that and nothing else. Not laws under the “umbrella of justice, morality, and rights” as understood by the masses. No, the sharia of Islam is the foundation.

They say that our sharia does not impose our particular beliefs upon others; this is a false assertion. For it is, in fact , part of our religion to impose our particular beliefs upon others.

Thus whoever refuses the principle of terror[ism] against the enemy also refuses the commandment of Allah the Exalted, the Most High, and His sharia.

Osama Bin Laden

Succession, establishment, and safety – a promise from Allah reserved for the Muslims…is not simply kingship, subjugation, dominance, and rule. Rather, succession is to utilize all that for the purpose of compelling the people to do what the Sharia (Allah’s law) requires of them concerning their interests in the hereafter and worldly life, which can only be achieved by carrying out the command of Allah, establishing His religion, and referring to His law for judgment.

“This is the Promise of Allah”
Islamic State Al Hayat Media Center
2014

…terrorism is to disbelieve in those slogans and to believe in Allah. Terrorism is to refer to Allah’s law for judgment. Terrorism is to worship Allah as He ordered you.

“A Message to Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan”
Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

So seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State. What do you wait for after the truth has become clearer than the day and after the spiteful Rāfidah exposed their reality? Here they are today slaughtering everyone considered from Ahlus-Sunnah in Baghdad and elsewhere. No one was saved from them, even their allies, supporters, aids, tails, and dogs from the apostates who had once belonged to Ahlus-Sunnah, those in the Sahwah, army, police, and elsewhere, those whom the evil scholars confused into fleeing the implementation of Allah’s law in the territory of the Islamic State. So they became homeless, humiliated, fearful, and worrisome of the Rāfidah’s cruelty, whereas the Muslims live in the territory of the Islamic State with might and honor, secure by Allah’s bounty alone, with a life of comfort, going about the affairs of their business, livelihood, and trade, enjoying the grace of living under the rule of their Lord’s law, and all praise and grace is Allah’s. Therefore, O Muslims, seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Speech recorded on 14 May 2015

Indeed, every Muslim is intended by this war. And he is obliged to defend the religion of Allah and His Sharī‟ah…There is no good in living if we do not live under the rule of Allah and in the shade of His Sharī‟ah. And how sweet a death it is to die while supporting Allah‟s religion and defending His Sharī‟ah and His rule.

The religion of Allah, the Exalted, will not be implemented, and this goal cannot be achieved, for which Allah created us, except by the implementation of the Sharia of Allah, and appealing to him, and the application of Islamic law. This can only be achieved by force and power.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Sermon delivered July 2014

The death of a single Muslim, no matter his role in society, is more grave to the believer than the massacre of every kāfir on earth. And while the Sharī’ah calls for the invasion of all kāfir lands, certainly the aggressors are dealt with before those nations not actively waging war against the Khilāfah. This is an obvious reality. Any disbeliever standing in the way of the Islamic State will be killed, without pity or remorse, until governance is entirely for Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Democracy is a religion that gives supreme authority to people rather than Allah In it, the right to legislate is distributed amongst mankind so that they thereby determine what laws are to be ruled by in the lands. If the majority decide sodomy is legal, it is legalized even though it contradicts Allah’s Sharī’ah. And if the majority decide to illegalize sodomy, it is made illegal, not because it is Allah’s legislation, but because supreme power is that of mankind, above and beyond the authority of Allah! How wicked a religion is one where all its members consider themselves “gods” besides Allah!

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Jihad in this era is an obligation upon each and every Muslim as numerous
lands of the Muslims have been usurped by the kufār and numerous parties of apostasy have arisen therein. Until all these lands are retaken, cleansed of apostates, and ruled by the Sharī’ah, the obligation does not drop.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

We clarify to all that the Islamic State’s position is clear concerning the ruling on these factions, and it is that they are groups that have apostatized from the religion of Allah and have committed numerous deeds that have nullified the fundamentals of the religion. From amongst these deeds is that they fight a state that rules by the Sharī’ah of Allah while these factions are in one trench and one coalition with other factions that have resisted the implementation of the Shari’ah and declared their efforts to build a ‘democratic, civil, pluralistic’ state that removes the law of Allah from the lands of the Islamic State and replaces it with jāhilī laws. All this is done with support and direct air cover from the American-led crusader coalition that only strives to destroy the mission of the Khilāfah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 13

So adhere to and be diligent in obedience and don’t get tired. Listen both in times of dislike and delight, Unless the leader’s order is against the Sharī’ah, for there is no obedience to the leader in such.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

We likewise renew our call to the soldiers of the factions in Shām and Libya. We call on them to think long before embarking to ght the Islamic State, which rules by that which Allah revealed. Remember, O you afflicted by fitnah, before embarking to fight the Islamic State, that there is no place on the face of the Earth where the Sharī’ah of Allah is implemented and the rule is entirely for Allah except for the lands of the Islamic State. Remember that if you were able to capture one hand span, one village, or one city from it, the law of Allah in that area would be replaced with the laws of men. Then ask yourself, ‘What is the ruling on someone who replaces or is a cause for the replacement of the law of Allah with the law of man?’ Yes, you commit kufr by such. So beware, for by fighting the Islamic State you fall into kufr whether you realize it or not.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

Then the Sharī’ah of Islam came and deemed a specific number of wives that no Muslim is allowed to exceed, that number being four. As for concubines, then there is no limit.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

And isn’t polygamy a part of this Sharī’ah? Know then that the One who has honored the Muslim woman and has given her rights that protect her from the plots of the wicked is the very One who has permitted for the man to marry those that please him of women. And based on that, it is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to argue concerning the Sharī’ah of Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…the Islamic State will continue to strike Russia until Sharī’ah returns to all the lands of the Muslims usurped by the crusader Russians and until Russia pays the jizyah in humiliation.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…we reassure the Muslims in the eastern and western extents of the Earth that Libya will not be ruled except by Allah’s Sharī’ah and that the Islamic State by Allah’s grace will pave its way quickly towards consolidation and expansion.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 11

…apostate forces wage war against Allah’s religion by abandoning the Sharī’ah laws and replacing them with manmade laws in addition to waging war against the people… dragging them to prisons, and handing them over to the crusaders. Due to their war against Allah’s religion…the Islamic State rose to repel their attacks against the Muslims and to implement the Sharī’ah, spread justice, and save the prisoners from harm.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 11

The call to defend the Islamic State – the only state ruling by Allah’s Sharī’ah today – continues to be answered by sincere Muslims and mujāhidīn around the world prepared to sacrifice their lives and everything dear to them to raise high the word of Allah and trample democracy and nationalism…Thus we renew our call to the sincere Muslims around the world to march forth and wage war against the crusaders and apostates who seek to wipe out the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

We call all sides to reason, prioritize the general good, and adopt the principles of our Sharī’ah and great revolution in word and deed…

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

…it is obligatory to appoint a single imām and khalīfah for the Ummah who will govern the people in accordance with Allah’s religion and make them follow the laws of the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

We are fighting for the cause of Allah and will establish His Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

…there is no place on the face of the Earth where the Sharī’ah of Allah is implemented and the rule is entirely for Allah except for the lands of the Islamic State.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

…the only thing that prevents one from being fought and killed is to rule by the Sharī’ah, adhere to its laws, and disassociate oneself from those who forcefully resist the Sharī’ah and its laws.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

So detonate your explosive belt in their midst. Shoot their soldiers in the chest. Dissuade whoever you can from fighting those who rule by the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

They fight us under the name of Democracy, they wage war at the very core of our Islamic culture and identity, they consider everything contradicting Democracy as radical and fundamental. It is of course impossible for them to just allow us to rule by Shariah. Therefore, the eventual result is that fighting will continue until we remove this oppressive and dominant plague, America, upon the Muslims.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

May the blessings of Allāh be upon you, as you abide to the Shariah of your Lord in your jihãd and actions. May the blessings of Allāh be upon you, as you strive earnestly and as you wage your jihãd and strike the enemies of Allāh and your enemies. May Allāh accept our heroes the knights of Azawad and grant them Jannatul-Firdaus, join us with them while we are steadfast upon this path. And may He make their blood water the tree of Islam and spread the Laws of Allāh on earth.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

We will fight tirelessly and we will keep sacrificing upon this path until the word of Allah is the highest and the Islamic Shari’a be our laws in life. We will not deviate from it nor accept anything else to replace it.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

They are the lions of this Al Qaeda. They are the guardians of Shariah.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

One must know that Allah rewards for His obedience and punishes for His disobedience. Secondly – What is intended in knowing Allah; it is the knowledge of the shariah rulings.”

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

And it is evident enough that (the Western people) participate in this war by electing their governments, paying taxes that fund their governments in its aggression towards Muslims, and helping the Zionist oppressors in Palestine. Their silence or participation in crimes and aggression towards Muslims living in their countries; imprisonment, persecution, house arrests and the vicious immoral media campaign in defaming the prophet and the Sharia.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 14

It is the ruling in the Islamic principles that he who denies or rejects a definite law, and he who does contrary to it rebelliously, stubbornly, by legitimizing or disdaining it, is a kafir (who has disbelieved) in Allah and the pure Shari’ah, which Allah the Exalted has chosen for His Slaves.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 14

Stand, revenge on America the enemy of Islam and Muslims. Remind us of the glories of Nairobi, Dar-es-salam, Aden, New York, Washington, Fort Hood, Benghazi and Boston. Defend your religion, Ummah and honors from America and the crusaders, by hitting their interests in our countries and theirs. The war with the crusaders and Jews is global; it does not acknowledge boundaries and there are no restrictions except those brought by the just Shari’ah or those advantegeous to Islam and Muslims as seen by the trusted Ummah scholars and Mujahideen leaders.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

What is it that detaches you from the rest of the Ummah!? We have to struggle to establish the Shari’ah of Allāh. It’s not something that you get for free, or just by praying the 5 prayers and make du’aa, it is established through blood and sacrifice of everything … everything!

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

Democracy is a contrary idea because it calls to shirk of masses’ ruling instead of worshiping Allah (swt) Alone in legislation and ruling by Sharia law.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

The Mujahideen – may Allāh protect them – are the raisers of the mighty flag of Tawheed, the followers of the Islamic Shari’ah, the followers of the path of our beloved Prophet, the ones uniting the Muslim Ummah.

This is a call that should be taken seriously. Car bombs are not particularly difficult to construct and, in crowded metropolitan areas, are difficult for police to detect ahead of time.

Car bombs have been used extensively for decades in Third World nations. The main obstacle here in the US is getting explosive material and detonation items. We saw with the attempted Times Square bombing a few years ago that this is not easy or straightforward. That car bomb fizzled due to technical mistakes made in its construction.

But we can’t depend on being lucky every time like we were in Times Square. If the Jihadis can build car bombs in places like Somalia, Yemen, Lebanon and Thailand, they can build them here.

Furthermore, the fact that Inspire is making this specific call should be treated as essentially a signal, a directive if you will, to Jihadis. History shows that one or a few will act on this call.

Where and, especially, when, is anyone’s guess. The Inspire article mentions New York, Washington, DC, northern Virginia, Chicago, Los Angeles. It mentions landmarks and sports stadiums as suitable targets, as well as major business facilities. The article also mentions the UK and France as targets for car bombs.

In the wake of this, don’t be surprised to see very strict enforcement of traffic and parking laws and regulations by US law enforcement–and don’t complain about it.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula recently published its latest edition of “Inspire” online magazine. Included in this edition is a kind of Guidebook for Jihadis. It’s called the “Lone Mujahid Pocketbook,” and it contains instructions for “lone wolf” actors in the US as to how they might create chaos through acts of sabotage and violence.

Among other things, it offers detailed instructions for torching parked cars, causing vehicular accidents by pouring motor oil on highway curves, starting forest fires, “making a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom” and using a pickup truck with blades welded on the front “as a mowing machine, not to mow grass but (to) mow down the enemies of Allah.”

Lone wolf terrorists are not to be scoffed at. Major Nidal Hassan was a lone wolf terrorist. Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Muhammed, was a lone wolf terrorist. John Allen Mohammed, the mostly forgotten DC Sniper, was a lone wolf terrorist. All three men killed and wounded innocent Americans in the name of Islam.

The ideas and tactics outlined in the Lone Mujahid Pocketbook are also not to be dismissed as harmless.

Nevertheless, in the the article linked below, NBC News Investigations Editor Mike Brunker sees the recommendations in the guidebook in a “positive light.” Now, Brunker tries to assign that thought to terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann, but no where does Kohlmann even infer that he views the guidebook as a positive development. In fact, Kohlmann says just about the opposite:

“Homegrown terrorism costs al-Qaida nothing, and it garners the same amount of public attention as “real” terrorism. It’s a no-brainer.”

Kohlmann does comment on the production quality of the latest issue of “Inspire,” but he most assuredly does not dismiss the publication of this magazine and guidebook as “positive.” Brunker was irresponsible to infer otherwise. But we’ve come to expect such poor standards of journalism from what NBC has become.